📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Sr. UX Designer, Amazon Ads
Company: Amazon
Location: Seattle, Washington; Santa Monica, California; New York, New York
Job Type: Full-Time
Category: UX Design (Advertising Technology)
Date Posted: June 11, 2025
Experience Level: Senior (8+ years)
Remote Status: On-site
🎨 Role Summary
- Lead the design of complex advertising tools and experiences within the Amazon Ads ecosystem, focusing on intuitive and scalable solutions for brands, businesses, and agencies.
- Drive the end-to-end user experience design process, from initial discovery and strategic definition through to detailed design execution and implementation.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, engineers, and researchers to translate user needs and business objectives into elegant and effective design solutions.
- Champion user-centered design principles, advocate for accessibility standards, and utilize data and research insights to inform and iterate on design decisions.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Own and lead the design process for significant features or product areas within Amazon Ads, ensuring alignment with overall product strategy and design principles.
- Conduct design discovery activities, including competitive analysis, user flows, and journey mapping, to understand advertiser needs and pain points comprehensively.
- Create high-fidelity wireframes, interactive prototypes, detailed design specifications, and production-ready visual assets using industry-standard design tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD).
- Collaborate closely with user researchers to plan and conduct usability testing, interviews, and other research activities, synthesizing findings into actionable design recommendations.
- Present design concepts, rationale, and research findings to cross-functional teams and stakeholders, effectively communicating the value and impact of design decisions.
- Iterate on designs based on user feedback, usability findings, technical constraints, and business requirements, maintaining a focus on continuous improvement.
- Contribute to the evolution of the Amazon Ads design system, ensuring consistency, scalability, and efficiency across product lines and platforms.
- Mentor junior designers and actively participate in design critiques, providing constructive feedback and fostering a culture of design excellence and innovation.
- Stay informed about industry trends in UX/UI design, advertising technology, and e-commerce, applying relevant insights to improve product experiences.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: While a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Design, related field, or equivalent practical experience is typical for a Senior role, Amazon often values demonstrable experience and portfolio quality over specific degrees. A strong portfolio is a critical requirement.
Experience: Minimum of 8 years of extensive experience in UX design, product design, or interaction design, with a proven track record of successfully shipping complex digital products and features. Experience designing for advertising platforms, B2B tools, or complex enterprise software is highly desirable.
Required Skills:
- Expert proficiency in core UX design methodologies, including user research, persona development, journey mapping, information architecture, wireframing, and prototyping.
- Strong visual design skills with the ability to create high-fidelity mockups and design specifications that align with brand guidelines and user interface standards.
- Demonstrated experience using industry-leading design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or similar.
- Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, research, and marketing.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills to articulate design decisions and rationale to diverse audiences.
- Deep understanding of usability principles, accessibility standards (WCAG), and interaction design patterns.
- Experience conducting and synthesizing findings from user research and usability testing.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience applying Agile or Scrum methodologies to the design process.
- Experience designing for complex workflows, data visualization, or analytics platforms.
- Familiarity with front-end development concepts (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to facilitate effective collaboration with engineers.
- Experience with design systems thinking and contributing to or utilizing established design systems.
- Experience in the advertising technology or e-commerce industry.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- A well-organized online portfolio showcasing a range of complex UX design projects, including case studies that detail your design process from problem definition to solution.
- Include examples of your work on B2B tools, advertising platforms, complex interfaces, or data-heavy applications if possible.
- Demonstrate your ability to create wireframes, user flows, prototypes, and final visual designs.
- Clearly articulate your role and contributions on each project, especially when working in a team environment.
Process Documentation:
- For each case study, clearly outline the problem you were solving, your initial research and discovery methods, and how these insights informed your design decisions.
- Showcase your ideation process, including sketches, low-fidelity wireframes, and iterations based on feedback or testing.
- Explain your approach to validating designs, including usability testing methodologies and how you incorporated user feedback.
Visual Presentation:
- Ensure your portfolio is visually appealing and easy to navigate.
- Present your final designs clearly, highlighting key screens and interactions.
- Consider including examples of design specifications or documentation used for developer handoff.
Technical Demonstration:
- If applicable, provide links to interactive prototypes or live products you have designed.
- Discuss any technical constraints or considerations that influenced your design decisions.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: For a Senior UX Designer role at Amazon in locations like Seattle, Santa Monica, or New York, the estimated base salary range is typically between $140,000 and $190,000 annually. This range can vary based on experience level, specific location, performance, and negotiation. In addition to base salary, Amazon's compensation packages often include Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and performance bonuses, which can significantly increase total compensation over a multi-year period. This estimate is based on publicly available salary data for similar roles at large tech companies in these high-cost-of-living areas and common industry compensation structures for Senior-level design roles with 8+ years of experience.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision) with various plan options.
- 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match.
- Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) as part of the compensation package.
- Paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays).
- Parental leave program.
- Employee discounts on Amazon products and services.
- Access to employee assistance programs and mental health resources.
- Career development resources and training opportunities.
Working Hours: Full-time role, typically 40 hours per week. While Amazon values flexibility, this on-site role will likely involve core hours for team collaboration, especially given the cross-functional nature of the work within an Agile/Scrum environment. Designers are encouraged to manage their time effectively to support creative flow and meet project deadlines.
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: E-commerce, Cloud Computing (AWS), Digital Advertising. Amazon Ads operates at the intersection of e-commerce, technology, and advertising, a dynamic and rapidly evolving space. The design implications involve creating user-friendly interfaces for complex advertising tools while maintaining a seamless experience for the end consumer (Amazon shoppers).
Company Size: Over 10,001+ employees globally. Amazon's large size means working within a complex organizational structure, with opportunities to impact a massive user base and collaborate with diverse teams across different business units.
Founded: Founded in 1994. Amazon's history is rooted in relentless innovation and customer obsession, which shapes its design culture to be data-driven, experimental, and focused on delivering tangible business results through user experience improvements.
Team Structure:
- You will be part of a dedicated UX team within the Amazon Ads organization, working alongside other UX designers, researchers, writers, and design technologists.
- The team likely operates in pods or smaller groups focused on specific product areas or advertiser segments.
- Expect close collaboration with product managers and software engineers in cross-functional teams.
Methodology:
- Amazon teams typically utilize Agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban) for product development, requiring designers to work iteratively and adapt to changing requirements.
- Design processes often involve a combination of user-centered design principles, data analysis, and A/B testing to validate design decisions.
- Emphasis on working backward from the customer (advertiser and shopper) to define problems and design solutions.
Company Website: https://www.amazon.com
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: Senior UX Designer. This role is for an experienced individual capable of leading design initiatives, mentoring others, and influencing product strategy through design. It sits above a Mid-Level Designer and below a Principal Designer or Design Manager.
Reporting Structure: Typically reports to a Design Manager or Senior Design Manager within the Amazon Ads UX organization. This structure provides a clear path for mentorship and career progression within the design discipline.
Design Impact: As a Senior UX Designer on Amazon Ads, your work will directly impact the experience of millions of advertisers globally, influencing their ability to connect with customers and grow their businesses on Amazon. You will play a critical role in shaping the future of advertising on one of the world's largest e-commerce platforms.
Growth Opportunities:
- Potential for advancement to Principal UX Designer, focusing on complex, cross-organizational design challenges and thought leadership.
- Opportunity to move into a Design Management role, leading and growing a team of designers.
- Specialization in specific areas like advertising technology, data visualization, or platform design.
- Opportunities for cross-team or cross-business unit transfers within Amazon, offering exposure to different domains and challenges.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: On-site office environment in Seattle, Santa Monica, or New York. These are major Amazon tech hubs with dedicated design teams and collaborative workspaces.
Office Location(s): Specific office buildings within Seattle, Santa Monica, or New York. These locations are typically in urban or suburban centers with access to public transportation and amenities.
Design Workspace Context:
- Expect a collaborative office environment with agile workspaces designed to facilitate teamwork and communication.
- Access to meeting rooms, whiteboarding areas, and potentially dedicated design studio spaces.
- Equipped with necessary design software, hardware, and tools to support creative work.
Work Schedule: Full-time, on-site. While there may be some flexibility, the expectation is to be present in the office for team collaboration, meetings, and participation in the vibrant design culture. Core hours will likely be in place to ensure effective cross-functional interaction.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Initial Screening: Recruiter screen followed by a hiring manager or lead designer screen to assess basic qualifications, experience, and initial fit. Be prepared to discuss your resume and portfolio highlights.
- Portfolio Review/Presentation: A dedicated session where you will present selected case studies from your portfolio, walking the interviewers through your design process, problem-solving approach, and impact. Focus on projects relevant to complex interfaces, B2B tools, or data-driven design.
- Loop Interviews: A series of interviews with various team members, including other designers (peers and potentially more senior), a product manager, an engineer, and potentially a user researcher or cross-functional partner. These interviews will cover behavioral questions (aligned with Amazon's Leadership Principles), technical design skills, collaboration style, and problem-solving abilities.
- Design Challenge/Whiteboarding: You may be given a design challenge or a whiteboarding session to assess your on-the-spot problem-solving skills, ability to think through complex user flows, and communication of design ideas.
- Final Evaluation: The hiring team will debrief and make a hiring decision based on performance across all interview stages.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Select 2-3 strong case studies that demonstrate your experience with complex design problems, B2B interfaces, or data visualization if possible.
- Focus on telling a compelling story for each case study, highlighting the problem, your process, key decisions, challenges faced, and the impact of your design.
- Clearly explain your role and contributions, especially in team projects.
- Be prepared to discuss the trade-offs and constraints you encountered and how you addressed them.
Challenge Preparation:
- Practice whiteboarding or sketching out design solutions for hypothetical problems.
- Focus on articulating your thought process clearly and explaining your rationale behind design decisions.
- Consider the user, business goals, and technical feasibility when approaching the challenge.
- Don't be afraid to ask clarifying questions.
ATS Keywords: UX Design, User Experience, Product Design, Interaction Design, UI Design, Wireframing, Prototyping, User Research, Usability Testing, Information Architecture, Design Systems, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Agile, Scrum, Collaboration, Stakeholder Management, Design Critique, Problem Solving, Data-Driven Design, Accessibility, Advertising Technology, B2B Design, E-commerce, Customer Journey, User Flows, Case Study, Portfolio, Visual Design, Design Specification, Handoff.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- Figma: Highly likely to be used for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration, given its prevalence in the industry and large team environments. Expect to use it for creating high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes.
- Sketch: Another possibility for UI design, though Figma has gained significant traction. Proficiency in either is generally acceptable, but understanding the team's primary tool is beneficial.
- Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator): May be used for creating or editing visual assets, illustrations, or imagery, though less central to core UX/UI workflows than Figma or Sketch.
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Zeplin or Abstract: Tools for design handoff to engineers, facilitating the transfer of design specifications, assets, and redlines.
- Confluence or similar documentation platforms: Used for documenting design decisions, research findings, and design system guidelines.
- Jira or similar project management tools: For tracking design tasks, collaborating with engineering on feature implementation, and managing design sprints.
Research & Testing:
- UserTesting.com or similar remote testing platforms: For conducting usability studies and gathering feedback from target users (advertisers).
- Survey tools (e.g., Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey): For collecting quantitative and qualitative data from users.
- Analytics platforms (e.g., Amplitude, Adobe Analytics): For analyzing user behavior data and measuring the impact of design changes.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- Customer Obsession: Rooted in Amazon's core principle, this means deeply understanding the needs of both advertisers and Amazon shoppers and designing solutions that prioritize their experience.
- Bias for Action: Encourages designers to move quickly, experiment, and iterate based on feedback and data, rather than getting bogged down in lengthy analysis.
- Invent and Simplify: Challenges designers to find innovative solutions to complex problems while striving for simplicity and ease of use in the final product.
- Deliver Results: Focus on the impact of design work on business goals, such as advertiser satisfaction, conversion rates, and revenue.
Collaboration Style:
- Cross-functional: Close collaboration with product managers, engineers, researchers, and other stakeholders throughout the design process.
- Data-Driven: Decisions are heavily influenced by user research, usability testing, and product analytics.
- Feedback-Oriented: Regular design critiques and feedback sessions are likely part of the team's workflow to improve design quality.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Designing for a diverse set of advertiser needs, from small businesses to large agencies, with varying levels of technical expertise and advertising goals.
- Navigating the complexity of the advertising technology space, including ad formats, targeting options, reporting, and compliance.
- Balancing the needs of advertisers with the experience of Amazon shoppers, ensuring advertising is relevant and non-disruptive.
- Working within a large, fast-paced organization with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Opportunity to deepen expertise in advertising technology and e-commerce design.
- Access to internal training programs and resources for skill development.
- Potential to attend industry conferences and workshops.
- Mentorship opportunities within the Amazon design community.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to walk through your design process for a complex project, highlighting your approach to research, ideation, iteration, and validation. Use the STAR method to structure your responses, focusing on the Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
- Expect questions about how you handle ambiguity, gather requirements, and make design decisions when data is limited.
- Be ready to discuss how you collaborate with product managers and engineers throughout the design lifecycle.
Company Culture Questions:
- Research Amazon's Leadership Principles and prepare examples from your past experience that demonstrate how you embody these principles, particularly "Customer Obsession," "Bias for Action," "Invent and Simplify," and "Deliver Results."
- Be ready to discuss how you handle constructive criticism and participate in design critiques.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Practice presenting your case studies concisely and engagingly. Focus on the problem and impact, not just the final screens.
- Tailor your presentation to the audience – highlight aspects most relevant to designers, product managers, and engineers.
- Be prepared to answer questions about your design choices and the rationale behind them.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link.
- Carefully review your resume and tailor it to highlight your experience with UX design, complex interfaces, and collaboration, incorporating relevant ATS keywords.
- Refine your online portfolio, ensuring case studies are clear, detailed, and showcase your design process and impact, particularly for projects relevant to the advertising or B2B space.
- Prepare for the interview process by practicing answering behavioral questions using the STAR method and practicing presenting your portfolio case studies effectively.
- Research Amazon Ads and the specific types of advertising solutions they offer to demonstrate your interest and understanding of the domain.